I first became interested in the Pentax 6×7 system when I saw one in a camera shop window in 1976. I thought that the camera looked like a giant 35mm SLR, and in a sense, that’s what it really is. I thought the design was very clever and intuitive. Other 6x7s that I had seen were box cameras; this one was different. I bought one in 1988, and ended up buying three more over the years. I’ve been using this system professionally since 2000.
In this article I am going to talk about the Pentax 645N and Pentax 645D. The use of ‘and’ in the title rather than ‘vs’ is intentional. The use of ‘and’ in the title rather than ‘vs’ is intentional. This is not a competition. It is also not an attempt to convince anyone that this mount is a superior option to other systems. I am firmly Team “Whatever Floats Your Boat”. This is merely an overview of my experiences with two of my favorite cameras… with a few lens options thrown in
After recently acquiring my Pentax 6×7, I already had a pre-planned road trip in place so it was inevitable that I’d take it along with me to give it a full on road test. I had 4 days in total to shoot, and here’s how it all went.
Firstly, in relation to my other medium format camera, my Hasselblad 500CM, the Pentax 6×7 is a massive beast and boy does it weight something. 2.6kilos in fact. If I’m honest, the weight never really posed an issue for me – but shooting all day with it might be a little more challenging I guess.
So I bought a Pentax 6×7 in May 2018. That was the year I felt it was time to be more serious with my photography and that meant a serious medium format set-up. Abandoning digital cameras, I returned to film five years ago and dabbled a little with 120 stuff through vintage viewfinders and TLRs. But nothing serious or expensive. Now was time for that upgrade.
